Daily NK
Han Hee Yoen
8/5/2007
With the lack of construction of the infrastructure which supports cell phones and internet usage inside the Kaesung Industrial Complex, business management is increasingly becoming difficult.
At the “Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation and US-Korea FTA” conference held at the National Library on the 2nd by the Civil-Headquarters for Activating the South-North Economic Cooperation in Korea and 21st Century North-East Asia Peace Forum, Lee Im Dong, the secretary general of the Kaesung Industrial Complex Committee of Enterprises exposed difficulty, “The Kaesung Complex is facing a lot of hardship due to insufficiency of infrastructure needed for business and political influences at home and abroad.”
Lee revealed, “There are a lot of problems, such as the transportation and customs process, communications issue, labor power, absence of employment flexibility, and effectiveness. These problems should definitely be resolved, but these are impossible problems for the individual enterprises, so the government has to step forward.”
He said, “Cell phones and internet cannot be used inside the Kaesung Complex, so it takes significant amount of time and effort because the products that the buyers want can only be understood over fax and phone.”
Kim Joong Tae, the team manager of the Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Team under the Ministry of Unification, revealed, “We are improving domestic laws, strengthening communication with enterprises, realizing transportation of joint economic commodities by pursuing formal rail operations, and expanding systematical apparatus at the level of the state.”
Kim also explained, “As for private investment into North Korea, the government and conservative media have upheld an emphasis of self-responsibility of businesses based strictly on market economic principles. The critical point in the government’s aid policy is the agreement issue with principles of the market economy, constraints in financial resources, or North Korea’s lack of understanding of the market economy.”
On one hand, Professor Kwon Young Kyung from the Education Center for Unification said, “Various efforts from the Kaesung Complex (stated during the FTA) is needed to satisfy the standard of establishment of the Committee on Outward Processing Zones on the Korean Peninsula. Most of all, the roadmap for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, according to the February 13 Agreement, needs to progress smoothly, so that the denuclearization of the peninsula can actively take place.”
